Brian Cullman and Alan Light on 'How to Prepare for the Past' (NYC)
Join us for a special book talk with Brian Cullman in celebration of his debut How to Prepare for the Past, in conversation with author & journalist Alan Light
May 7, 5 PM ET • New York, NY: Housing Works Bookstore | 126 Crosby St
Writer and musician Brian Cullman’s rapturous evocation of life in the bike lane, before the world was digital, when music was everything and magic was everywhere, encompassing friendships with Lester Bangs, Nick Drake, Big Joe Turner, Tim Hardin, and Paul Bowles.
Praise for How to Prepare For The Past
“Brian Cullman always knew where the great music was hidden and writes about it with wit and elegance. His descriptions of close encounters with Nick Drake, Big Joe Turner, the Master Musicians of Jajouka, and so many others are as good as music reportage gets.”
—Joe Boyd, record producer and author of And the Roots of Rhythm Remain
“A fantastic memoir of a lifelong love affair with music, intertwined with recollections of a time when Music functioned as a Power in the Earth. Cullman’s recollections are written from a wry, wise, and witty vantage point: that of an undaunted, participating witness to an extraordinary time in history. A great book.”
—Vernon Reid
“Brian Cullman has found himself at the very inside of so many of music’s defining moments that his place as a discerning observer gives way to a kind of unguarded poetry that never fails to lift everyone out of the drabness of this world. What an artist!”
—Youssou N’Dour
One way, this is about how artists make the good stuff: they sell blood and brain cells and hang and hustle and remember the best parts, fight in the studios and sleep in the hallways. But behind everything is a deeply, casually stylish secret autobiography, of a musician and writer smart enough to find the meaning in the moment, over and over, for decades. A life in the arts.
— R.J. Smith, author of Chuck Berry: An American Life
“True coolness. A revelation.”
—Danny Fields
“Brian Cullman knows music from the inside out, as performer, scribe, and keen observer of those who make wonder out of soundwaves. His new collection of tales is a candid earwitness account of artisans and their process, personal and revelatory.”
—Lenny Kaye
About the Author
Brian Cullman is a writer & musician based in New York and in France. He has written extensively for The Paris Review, Antaeus, Rolling Stone, and The Village Voice and has won the ASCAP/Deems Taylor award for excellence in music journalism three times. He has three solo albums on Sunnyside and is currently a member of Lisbon-based group Rua Das Pretas.
About the Interlocuor
Emmy Award–winning music journalist Alan Light is the author of numerous books including The Holy or the Broken: Leonard Cohen, Jeff Buckley, and the Unlikely Ascent of “Hallelujah” (which was adapted into an acclaimed documentary), as well as Let’s Go Crazy: Prince and the Making of Purple Rain and biographies of Johnny Cash, Nina Simone, and the Beastie Boys. He was the cowriter of bestselling memoirs by Gregg Allman and Peter Frampton. Alan was a senior writer at Rolling Stone and the editor-in-chief of Vibe and Spin. He contributes frequently to The New York Times, Esquire, and The Wall Street Journal, among many publications, and cohosts the podcast Sound Up! With Mark Goodman and Alan Light.
About the Venue
https://www.housingworks.org/locations/bookstore-cafe
Writer and musician Brian Cullman’s rapturous evocation of life in the bike lane, before the world was digital, when music was everything and magic was everywhere, encompassing friendships with Lester Bangs, Nick Drake, Big Joe Turner, Tim Hardin, and Paul Bowles.
Release: Apr 28, 2026
Paperback ISBN: 9798988670124 • 272 pages
UK release: Jun 11, 2026 • UK Price: £14.99
